In movies, when any hacked device makes noises, shows a message and a lot, a lot of code moving around the screen, but the reality is quite different. It can be difficult know if your mobile has been hacked and / or they are spying on you with it.
If you suspect that your mobile may be compromised, there is a series of indications that you can collect to know if there is indeed something extra installed that is recording your movements or not.
Is it a modified mobile?
Mobile operating systems are much more “closed” than PC ones, so it is relatively difficult for malware to reach them just like this. An exception to this happens when have you bought the second-hand mobile and it has indications of having been modified. For example, it is an Android mobile that has installed a Custom ROM or a jailbroken iPhone.
That the mobile has been modified does not mean that it is spying on you, but it does make it easier for the person who modified it to have hidden spyware that was not there from the factory. To know if the mobile has been modified, you can see the status of the Google Play certification. If so, and if you suspect that it could have been modified with the aim of spying on you, the most sensible thing is to restore its factory firmware.
A modified mobile is more likely to have something extra inside than one that is not
Incidentally, there have been cases of suspicious software pre-installed on mobiles, although it is still the exception. Android mobile software must be analyzed by Google prior to certification in order to include Google Services. Once again, the fact that the mobile has been modified does not imply that it has malware, but there is more likely to hide it if so.
Check calls and SMS
One way to know if the mobile is doing “strange things” is check call history and SMS. Are there calls registered that you have not made? Taking into account that the malware could manipulate the call log by adding or removing it, it is best to consult the list directly from your operator.
An important piece of information is to check if a call diversion is active, so that all calls coming in to your phone number go to another number. You can see the steps to activate and deactivate call forwarding on an iPhone and Android mobile in this article.
Even more important are the SMS received, especially the account verification messages. Spyware could intercept the SMS messages from your mobile and send the codes of a use to another person, so that it could register the WhatsApp number on another phone, for example.
It is important to check if call forwarding is active, as well as if there are requests to reset passwords or suspicious SMS
It is also worth checking if there suddenly appears to be new password requests or resetting passwords, which you can find out either by checking SMS messages or your emails. Again, it could be that the “spy” is intercepting your emails to change your passwords and thus have access to your accounts from another device.
Finally, it never hurts to check if suspicious messages have been sent to all your friends on Facebook, Twitter, by mail or any other method. While malware could remove the clues, you will usually find out about it as your friends will write to you to ask about it.
Pay attention to notifications
Over time, both Android and iOS have added features to improve your privacy and security, in many cases through prompts. For example, the latest versions notify you when an application access microphone, camera or location. It never hurts to review these notices and check that they make sense: that Google Maps accesses the location is normal; let the flashlight app do it, not so much.
The latest versions of Android and iOS notify you when applications access the camera, location and microphone
In more mundane terrain, if someone has activated share the location in real time using Google Maps or other apps, notifications will appear from time to time notifying you of this. If you do not pay attention to the notifications, you will not find out about it.
It’s not just the system notifications you need to pay attention to, but suspicious notifications from possible spy apps, especially those that are permanent and do not belong to any application you have installed.
Check the apps
Possibly the best way to know if the mobile has been hacked and / or contains spyware is thoroughly review the list of installed applications, looking for any non-system application that you have not installed.
You should pay attention, as many of these spy applications use generic names to try to go unnoticed, such as System Update, Sys Options and similar options. The best way to know if they are who they say they are is see if they can be uninstalled. If yes, they are not system apps.
Malicious apps disguise themselves under generic names, but you can find them by checking carefully.
To find suspicious applications you can help yourself from the list of apps that consume more battery, where you should use your critical eye to distinguish between what makes sense and what doesn’t. Again, a game you’ve been playing all day using a lot of battery is normal; Let the flashlight app you haven’t even opened, no.
Another piece of information that may be interesting is to review the apps that consume the most dataAlthough it will only highlight a spy application if it is stealing a large amount of data, such as all your photos and videos. Stealing passwords and texts hardly uses data.
Finally, it never hurts review the apps that have access to the location, and it is one of the juiciest data for anyone who is using your own mobile to spy on you. Another good idea would be to do the same with access to the camera and microphone.
Activate Play Protect on Android mobiles
Android mobiles have their own antivirus integrated into Google Play, called Play Protect. This antivirus can stop a lot of malware and potentially harmful applications, so it is possible that if the mobile is hacked, Play Protect is disabled.
To check the status of Google Play Protect, open Google Play, tap on your profile picture and choose Play Protect on the menu. If disabled, it will appear in red. Activate it and press Analyze now to make an analysis to the mobile. Again, the fact that Play Protect is deactivated does not mean that the mobile is compromised, although it is a good clue that there is something strange, as it is active as standard.